August 19, 2009
Contact: Layli Whyte / (732) 933-1591
Senator Jennifer Beck (R-12)
The following is an article by Senator Jennifer Beck that was published in the Summer 2009 Quarterly Magazine by the New Jersey Conference of Mayors
It cannot be denied that New Jersey’s Council on Affordable Housing was created with the admirable intention of helping resolve our State’s affordable housing problem.
However, the most recent regulations allow COAH to use faulty data to assign municipalities unwieldy affordable housing obligations and include new obligations of affordable housing based on on-going commercial development, and requiring a new affordable housing unit for every 16 jobs (deemed to be created whenever a commercial building is built or expanded), regardless of whether there actually has been any job growth.
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New Jersey Has One of the Nation’s Highest Tabs for Unfunded Liabilities Because Governor Corzine Skipped Required Payments
New Jersey owes its current and retired workers $55.9 billion worth of health benefits – a figure that increased by $5.3 billion in fiscal year 2008 because of Governor Corzine’s decision to neglect the state’s pension and health benefit obligations, according to a Bloomberg report.
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August 6, 2009
Contact: Layli Whyte / (732) 933-1591
District 12
Senator Jennifer Beck, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, Jr. and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande today sent letters to every State Legislator requesting support and sponsorship of two bills that will address the existing loophole, which allows public officials convicted of corruption crimes to receive pensions for public positions they held that were unrelated to the crime committed.
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July 31, 2009
Contact: Layli Whyte / (732) 933-1591
District 12
Senator Jennifer Beck, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande are pleased to announce the signing into law of S-2792/A-3879, which will decrease the number of annual race dates at both the Meadowlands Racetrack and Freehold Raceway, thus increasing the amount that can be offered in their purses.
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July 31, 2009
Contact: Layli Whyte / (732) 933-1591
District 12
Rutgers Equine Science Center Study Underscores the Importance of Horse Racing to State’s Economy
Senator Jennifer Beck, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande said today that this weekend’s Haskell Stakes is a perfect example of the benefit of preserving quality horseracing with competitive purses can facilitate horse racing and the gaming industry as a whole in New Jersey. A study released Thursday, July 28, 2009 by the Rutgers Equine Science Center stated that the equine industry in New Jersey is valued at $4 billion and supports 13,000 jobs and 176,000 acres of operating farmland.
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July 30, 2009
Contact: Bill Murray / (609) 292-5199
District 12
Failing to Take A Bribe Is Not Enough–Law Enforcement Must Be Contacted
Senator Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) announced that she will be introducing legislation establishing criminal penalties for public servants who are offered bribes or witness bribery attempts, but fail to report the activity to State or Federal law enforcement officials. Other States have such a law on the books, but not New Jersey.
Beck’s fellow 12th District Legislators, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande will be introducing an identical bill in the General Assembly.
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July 28, 2009
Contact: Layli Whyte / (732) 933-1591
District 12
Officials from Local, County, State and Federal Governments Worked Together to Save Facility
The 12th District Legislators, as well as officials from Freehold Borough, Monmouth County and House Representative Chris Smith, are happy to announce that the U.S. Post Office located in Freehold Borough, the county seat, will remain open.
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July 28, 2009
Contact: Layli Whyte / (732) 933-1591
District 12 News Clips
The following editorial was published in the Asbury Park Press on Tuesday, July 28, 2009.
Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt, R-Ocean, who was among 44 public officials and religious leaders indicted last week on corruption charges, was fired Saturday by officials in Lumberton, where he double-dipped as township administrator. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy to remove him from his seat in the Assembly.
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July 27, 2009
Contact: Layli Whyte / (732) 933-1591
District 12
The Legislators of the 12th District have made a more open and transparent government a main cause during their times in elected office, and that goal does not end with lawmakers themselves. Governmental agencies, especially those whose duty it is to care for New Jersey’s most vulnerable citizens, should also be made to publically disclose that information which will keep them honest and in compliance with their missions.
In yesterday’s Star Ledger, there was an article concerning DYFS (Division of Youth and Family Services) and its refusal to make public the details of its prior actions when a child it has supervised dies from abuse or neglect. This point of view is antithetical to everything Senator Jennifer Beck, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande stand for.
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July 27, 2009
Contact: Layli Whyte / (732) 933-1591
District 12 News Clips
The following editorial was published in the Asbury Park Press on Monday, July 27, 2009.
Legislation introduced by Shore-area legislators in response to the cruel death from neglect of a 29-year-old developmentally disabled woman, Tara O’Leary, could help prevent other families from facing the same sense of helplessness her relatives felt after finding her emaciated in a Hunterdon County hospital.
O’Leary’s cousins had repeatedly been denied visitation at O’Leary’s community care residence before finally being granted guardianship by the state, only in time to make end-of-life decisions for the malnourished woman, who weighed only 43 pounds at the time of her death in November. Legislation introduced last week by Sen. Jennifer Beck and Assembly members Declan O’Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande, all R-Monmouth, would provide greater oversight and protection for patients in state-run facilities.
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